| Ulrica Arfvidsson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1734 Sweden |
| Died | 1801 Sweden |
| Other names | Anna Ulrica Arfvidsson, Mamsell Arfvidsson, Madam Arfvidsson |
| Occupation | Medium, fortunteller |
| Notes
Inspired the character in Daniel Auber's opera Gustave III and Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera
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Anna Ulrica Arfvidsson (1734–1801) was a professional Swedish fortune-teller during the reign of Gustav III of Sweden. She was commonly known as Mamsell Arfvidsson.
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Ulrica Arfvidsson was the daughter of a caretaker of the royal palace, Erik Lindberg, and Anna Katarina Burgin. After the death of her father, her mother remarried in 1740 to a chef of the royal household, Arfvid Arfvidsson, and Ulrica Arfvidsson grew up comfortably in an environment where she heard many rumours and gossip of the higher circles in society. She became well-informed about things which many people outside of the court would like to know. Ulrica is described as an intelligent woman with a sharp talent, well-developed intuition, and always very up-to-date about everything in society.
Not much is known of her earlier life. It seems she had run away from home at one point, since she was sought via a newspaper advertisement. In 1780, she is confirmed as a fortune-teller, and her clientele quickly came from all walks of society. She is mentioned in many contemporary memoirs and diary notes. Her primary method was the reading of coffee leafs, though she occasionally also used other methods, such as card readings. She was most likely active as a professional medium before 1780. The Gustavian age was a great age for fortune tellers and mediums.
Arfvidsson had her business at Lästmakargatan not far from Johannis Church in Stockholm, hidden away in an alley where mainly poor people, such as "blind and crippled women" [1] lived, in order for her customers to come to her discreetly. Speculation about her background pointed her out both as an eloped noblewoman and as a Finnish woman. She had two maids as assistants: one of them, Adrecka Dordi, was of African origin, which was seen as exotic. Dordi stayed with Arfvidsson until at least 1800, and is sometimes described as a "Baptized Turcess from Morocco".
Arfvidsson enjoyed great popularity within the aristocracy. It was said that she was never wrong, and that her predictions became more and more accurate every year. Reportedly, Ulrica Arfvidsson had a wide net of informers from all over society, reaching from the royal household to private homes. She was said to have been an informer of the police, and members of the royal house asked her for political advice, such as the future King Charles XIII of Sweden.
In 1783, she received a visit from Carl August Ehrensvärd and the General-Admiral Trolle in disguise. She looked into the coffee, revealed their identities, and stated that Ehresnvärd would replace Trolle in his position. This was not likely at the time, as Ehrensvärd was not designed as the replacement of Trolle. In 1784, however, Trolle died during the King's visit to Italy, and it was found that the King had left an instruction that Ehrensvärd should his replacement in the event of Trolle's death.
In 1786, Ulrica Arfvidsson was consulted by King Gustav III of Sweden in disguise, who came to her in the company of Count Jacob De la Gardie posing as someone else. Arfvidsson presented several predictions about his past and his future, as well as that of his escort. At this occasion, she warned him about a man in a mask with a sword. This was remembered when in 1792, the King was assassinated at a masqued ball by Jacob Johan Anckarström who shot the King from behind. She also warned the King: Beware of the man with a sword you will meet this evening, for he aspires to take your life.[2]
When the King and the Count left her, they saw no one suspicious on their way back to the palace. The Count told the King to ignore her warning, but he answered: But she has told me some many other things, that have already come true! [2] When they entered the palace and was proceeding up the stairs, they met a man with a sword leaving the apartment of the King's sister-in-law the duchess of Södermanland, consort of prince Charles, who was suspected of conspiring against him. The man was Adolph Ludvig Ribbing, one of the future participants in the conspiracy which planned the regicide of the King in 1792. During the Russo-Swedish war of 1788–1790, the King consulted Arfvidsson again. After the murder of Gustav III, the chief of the police, Henrik Liljensparre, interviewed her about the attitude toward the King in the upper class opposition, and she is said to have been of some assistance in the investigation.
In 1792, Ulrica Arfvidsson was also consulted in connection to the conspiracy of Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, who conspired to depose the guardian government of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden by an alliance with Russia. The co-conspirator of Armfelt, Magdalena Rudenschöld, was instructed by him to consult Arfvidsson, which she did three days after his departure from Sweden. Rudenschöld described the prediction in her correspondance to Armfelt. Arfvidsson consulted her coffee leafs and stated that the man of whom Rudenschöld was thinking (Armfelt) had recently left the country in anger over a child (the King) and a small man (the regent, Duke Charles), whom he would soon scare by an agreement with a woman with a non-royal crown on her head (Catherine the Great). She predicted that Armfelt risked to be revealed by the loss of a letter, which would be his ruin. As for Rudenschöld herself, Arfvidsson told her that she was observed and mentioned to Catherine the Great in letters by a fat man (the Russian ambassador Stackelberg), that she should be careful, and that great sorrows awaited her. [3]
During her last years, her business seem to have became less lucrative. Some say people were scared away because of her prediction of the regicide. She died in poverty.
Ulrica Arfvidsson is perhaps the most famous fortune-teller in Swedish history. Another famed occultist was Elin Håkansson, who had the ear of both Charles XI of Sweden and Charles XII of Sweden.
Ulrica Arfvidsson is a character in Daniel Auber's opera Gustave III and Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. She is also mentioned in the famed novel The Queen's Tiara by Carl Jonas Love Almquist.